It is widely accepted in industry that nearly all types of fine particulate filters will blind. As the filtration of fine particulate continues over a number of cycles in a batch type centrifuge or over a period of time in a continuous filter system, the finer particles tend to remain in suspension and move through the coarse particles toward the filter medium. Since the filter medium must be fine enough to stop fine particles so that they will not pass through the filter the suspended fines will build up on the filter medium and blind it.
After blinding, some form of liquid backwash or compressed gas backflow must be used to free the filter media so that filtering can resume. In most applications, it is practical to use such methods of filter cleaning on production systems. However, in the case of batch type centrifuge filters, regular backwashing is not feasible. When finely powdered particulate is being filtered in a conventional batch type centrifuge, the filter will quickly blind and become inoperable.